Squatting – Lawlessness – Cover Up

An analysis of this week’s developments in Greece, forced on me the urgency for some sharp comment. I refer in particular to:

The ending of the nine-month government serial under the name of “hard negotiations for the second evaluation,” with the agreement reached at the Eurogroup of Thursday, 15 of June.

The death of an innocent schoolboy by a stray bullet, fired in the air by a revelling Roma at Menidi and the discovery of the ghettoes of crimes and drugs that followed.

The announcement of an open discussion on the ghettoes of lawlessness, organised by the police officers trade union at the famous ghetto of Exarcheia in central Athens.

The high media coverage of the gayprideparade in Athens, with the participation of Finance Minister Tsakalotos and the uproar against a negative comment by professor Fortsakis, an opposition M.P.

Let us come back to our senses. The two main keys in the early stages of Greek civilization were the creation of city-states and the development of free, democratic, societies regulated by the laws of famous sages such as Solon, Lycourgos and others. It was no accident that these new forms of human civil organisation were termed “koinonia”, instead of “societas” in Latin. “Koinonia” means a communion of people with shared principles and values, which are passed into laws, through a democratic process: the rule of majority. Later on, when Christianity was accepted by Greeks the “Communion” was elevated to include communion with the Trinitarian God.

Having cleared the ground, let me come back to current times. Prime Minister Tsipras was assuring us, last September, that the evaluation would be concluded in the first half of October. However, valuing his party cohesion (which guarantees his stay in power) over and above the interests of the Greek people, he stretched it on purpose to 40 rather than 2 weeks, with more burdening measures for enterprises, salaried people and pensioners, than those that were on the table last autumn, plus the cost of nine more months of recession. Mr. Schauble revealed that the agreement had been reached before the previous Eurogroup, but Mr. Tsipras asked for a postponement of the announcement for three weeks “for communication purposes”.

Which free society, with what democratic procedures decided all this? It is obvious that far from the support of the majority of the electorate – which he has lost long ago – Mr. Tsipras could not even rally his own party support. He asked for the extra three weeks so that he could massage the consciences of his own MPs and manipulate communication or rather cover up the truth. Even his partner, Mr. Kammenos, could not stomach it and reacted with a dirty joke on his twitter, which he later blamed on his son.

Why and how, every splinter of social cohesion was broken down and a young boy was killed during a school feast, due to the criminal tolerance of lawlessness in minority ghettoes? The Government announced measures for the enforcement of the obligation of under-age children to go to school in Roma areas. Well done! But the tolerance of law-breaking by the SYRIZANEL government is universal. The prime examples of the braking-up of Greek society by criminal minorities are: the Exarcheia ghetto, the occupation of Universities, local government, other public and private properties by squatting anarchists or “sympathisers”.

All these crimes are not simply tolerated but are protected by SYRIZA, obviously because all its leaders were reared and received publicity through such “occupations” and damages to public property, with no penalty.

The organisation of the open debate by police officers at the Exarcheia square should be praised, even if it is only a symbolical move to protect freedom of movement and expression in every corner of the City-cradle of Democracy. Even at the local level, the majority of the citizens at Exarcheia has it own right to freedom from violence, arson and molotof bombs, thrown by scions of well-to-do families expressing their hang-ups.

Finally, in genuine democracy freedom of expression of any minority or particularity is sacred. Respect for the freedom of any other person is a basic principle, both of our ancient tradition and of Christianity which has shaped the roots of the European scale of values. But, it is equally true that the freedom of expression of the majority should also be respected. Otherwise, we come under the definition of dictatorship in Orwell’s Animal Farm, in which “some animals are more equal than others”.

Incoclusion:

ContemporaryGreeksocietyis not “a koinonia” either according to the Aristotelian or the Christian definition. It tolerates the right of violence; the act of oppression of silent majorities by organised minorities of businesses, political entities or marginalised people. It even accepts the apogee of corruption epitomised in political clientelism that keeps a closed eye on even contraband activities.

We cannot survive as a nation and as an independent People worthy of our history with such a scale of non-values.

Apart from the praiseworthy educational efforts for the Romas, let our political, spiritual and judicial leadership occupy themselves with the restoration of the Greek scale of values, that allowed us to survive and intermittently shine as a nation for three thousand years now.